Whether you’re a job seeker, a recruiter, or just looking for new business prospects; you should never underestimate the power of your LinkedIn network.

The further you expand your network, the more active you are and the quality of your profile are all factors that contribute to your ranking on the platform. The higher you rank; the higher you will appear in search results and in turn the more exposure you will gain. So if you’re seeking new opportunities or to create new professional contacts, then it is essential that you put the time in to building an effective LinkedIn presence.

Not only will it improve your chances of finding opportunities through the network, but it also helps you to build credibility and a reputation as an expert in your field.

You can see how you rank by visiting the ‘Who’s Viewed Your Profile’ page and clicking on the ’How you rank for profile views’ tab at the top of the page. You can then see how you rank amongst your connections, and also how your connections rank. If you want to give your ranking a bit of a boost, here are a few things you should do:

1) Complete your profile

A completed profile will rank higher than one with gaps, so make sure you fill out each section properly. You will know that your profile is complete when the “Profile Completeness” bar on the right side of the page is 100 percent blue. Taking the time to put together a well thought out summary and thorough outline of your work history will also improve chances of people contacting you.

2) Build your connections

The larger your network, the more profiles you will have access to. This doesn’t mean you should connect with anyone and everyone, however, as people working in your industry and other potential business prospects will be a lot more useful to you. You can build a quality network by connecting with old business contacts, colleagues, University alumni, etc. Don’t hesitate to add other industry professionals who can be found in groups and search results, just remember to tailor your invitation to introduce yourself properly and let them know why you would like to connect.

3) Post updates

Posting regular updates will ensure that your profile gets seen by other users and users who post status updates rank higher than those who don’t. If you don’t have time to do this manually you can use tools such as Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule updates to go out at certain times, meaning you can plan ahead. If people like or comment on your update it will then appear in their network’s newsfeeds to try to share interesting content that people will engage with.

4) Start publishing

Publishing on LinkedIn is a great way to build some credibility within your industry as providing your knowledge and insights can help to build a reputation as an expert in the field. Posting blog posts is also a good way to get your profile seen by people who may not have necessarily come across it otherwise, through Pulse or through people sharing your blog post.

5) Join groups

By joining groups you or given access to connect with other members, so it make it much easier to build a network of industry professionals. Try to contribute and interact with peoples’ posts as much as possible, as the more active you are the better your profile will rank. Sharing your thoughts and expertise on relevant topics will also help you to get yourself known as a knowledgeable professional in the sector.